In our universities, where there should be open debate and pluralism, there is political orthodoxy and intellectual conformity. Nine out of 10 UK sociology professors describe their politics as left wing and just 3% vote Conservative*. This ideological uniformity underpins the social policy advice academic 'experts' offer to politicians and the public. As an independent researcher I have tried to subject the claims of the academic establishment to critical scrutiny. Offering an alternative perspective based in classical liberal values of individual responsibility and personal liberty, I seek to find practical solutions to pressing social problems that do not entail more government spending, or more control of our lives by the state. * Survey of sociology professors reported in A. H. Halsey, A History of Sociology in Britain, 2004

I used to be a sociologist, but I'm alright now... ABC Radio National special programme, recorded in 2008, sets out my thoughts on sociology, politics, and more.

'Who is to answer the question: What shall we do, and how shall we arrange our lives?.. Only a prophet or saviour can give the answers. If there is no such man, then you will certainly not compel him to appear on this earth by having thousands of professors, as privileged hirelings of the state, attempt as petty prophets to take over his role' (Max Weber, Science as a Vocation, 1919)